Archive for February 2016

The big news shaking up the political world this weekend is the death of US Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia. In the wake of his death, conservatives have sounded the alarm on how this is terrible for America. To them, King Obama has another chance to ruin our freedom, ruin our Constitution, and appoint another “commie” to our highest court. As a result, Republicans have called for a new justice to not be appointed until we have a new president. If only they could see the irony in that.

One of the leaders over this conservative outcry is Senator Ted Cruz. This morning on ABC Cruz stated, “This should be a decision for the people. Let the election decide”. Fortunately for all involved, the election already did decide this issue- in 2012.

According to Article II, Section II of the Constitution- the very Constitution conservatives claim to defend while liberals destroy it- it is the duty of the president to nominate justices. As far as I know, Obama won the 2012 which was decided by we the people. So why would Obama not nominate someone and leave the seat open for over a year? If Cruz and other Republicans want to defend and follow the Constitution then they should be encouraging Obama to fulfill his presidential obligations. Moreover, Obama still has OVER A YEAR left in his presidency. As far as I know, president’s don’t suddenly lose power during an election season. He can still veto, sign bills, and run our country. So again, why can’t he do the simple task of nominating a justice? Because it makes YOU (conservatives) upset? Tough luck! That’s the way the cookie crumbles!

Now of course conservatives are upset that a conservative spot on the bench will most likely be lost to a liberal spot. But if the Constitution is the holy document they deem it to be, then this should be accepted as tough shit. You can’t pick and choose when to follow the Constitution and when to ignore it based on whether it helps you or hurts you. In fact, if Scalia were alive to weigh in on this situation, he would be shaking his head at Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, and anybody else hoping to delay this appointment. Especially when Republicans would be crying foul if one of their own were in power and Democrats tried to block their nomination.

Ted Cruz is right when he says this should be a decision for the people. Well the people spoke in 2012. And they choose President Obama to run our country and make these decisions until March 2017.

Cam Newton NOT walking off the field before handshakes like Peyton did when he lost in 2010.

In the aftermath of Super Bowl 50 the biggest news story was not Peyton Manning possibly retiring on top or the Broncos ferocious defense. Instead, the media and fans alike turned their attention towards Carolina Panthers QB, Cam Newton. Why? Because of a sour demeanor in his post-game press conference that ended abruptly with a walk-out.

Going into the Super Bowl, Cam Newton was already a controversial figure because he has the gall to have fun playing a game- a game which is designed for our entertainment, mind you. Whether it’s dabbing or revealing his Superman logo or smiling, Cam attracted plenty of haters (and lots of fans) for his high-energy persona. So naturally after a poor performance in football’s biggest stage, his haters came out of the woods in full force and did not hold anything back. But was it deserved? Simply put, no.

Before delving into why it’s not deserved, I do want to point out that he should have handled the situation better. His reasoning for not diving on the ball wasn’t great and he should have at least explained why he left the press conference suddenly (or at least say something when leaving). While he IS a good leader, his actions didn’t reflect it. He failed in that moment, but to be human is to err. Cam is a young guy and hopefully he will look back at this and learn how to better handle failure in the future.

With all that said, the hate he has received has been terrible. It’s one thing to not be a Cam fan, but the hate he is generating is vicious. Digging deeper, without being racial, you see it doesn’t make too much sense. Going through social media he has been called a coward, un-American, loser, bum, and much worse. All that, for walking out on a presser? Well, I guess it’s deserved since the media did the same to Tom Brady. Oh wait, they didn’t. In fact, looking at the story, people are complimentary of Brady (passion, desire to win, raw emotion, sore loser) for the same things Cam is being trashed for. Why the double standard? Now, the Super Bowl IS a much bigger platform. But the same principles should apply regardless. At the end of the day, Brady is a loved, “terrible loser” while Cam is a ridiculed “sore loser”. That doesn’t make much sense to me. Going even further, Cam even plagiarized his “show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser” quote. The man who said it? The man who the Super Bowl trophy is named after.

As for the press conference, I wish he didn’t walk off. But, but, but, but- he lost the biggest game of his life and didn’t play well. He has to answer questions just minutes after the game and has to do so with the CORNERBACK of the WINNING team talking about him literally just a few feet BEHIND HIS BACK. Put yourself in his shoes and see how you would handle it. I consider myself a good guy and I very well could have done the same.

But here’s the real reason Cam shouldn’t be belittled. He is one of the NFL’s “good guys”. Many All-Stars with fame and money don’t give back to the community or they only do so in name. Cam actively involves himself to help others. He hosts and attends camps for kids where he actually engages with them opposed to being there for ten minutes and leaving. He fed over 800 kids this past Thanksgiving. Does that sound like a loser? A coward? A scumbag? Not to me, especially when you have players like Greg Hardy and Vontize Burfict in the league. If you’re using scumbag on Cam, what are you calling those players?

While I hope Cam learns from this experience, I also hope he continues being the Cam Newton that got him to where he is today. At the end of the day, if you can impact the lives of others in a positive way while bringing joy to your fans, then you’re a winner in my book. Keep dabbin’ Cam, keep dabbin’.